Taisceadán (Valuable Property Register) Bill 2019: First Stage

A national property register is long overdue. We all know many people around the country who have had property stolen and cannot relocate it. That property is often found but never returned to its owners because it is found in a different part of the country. In Sligo and Leitrim, the local authorities are engaged in a process of marking property for people. At marts, they mark trailers, farm machinery and other expensive items and put people's eircodes on them so that if they are ever stolen, they can be recovered. For that to happen, however, we need a national register of this data that gardaí can access to return people's property if it is found after being stolen. It is a simple enough Bill and we recommend it to the House. We expect all Members will support it to bring this to a conclusion.